This invention relates to a lid locking device to be used as for locking a hinged lid adapted to close a fuel inlet to a gasoline tank in an automobile.
Generally, the lid hinged at the fuel inlet to the gasoline tank in the automobile is adapted to be opened or closed by an operation performed at a remote place such as a driver's seat. To permit the remote operation, the lid is so constructed that a stopper slidably energized with a spring for fastening or releasing the lid is enclosed with a case which is attached fast to the lateral panel around the fuel inlet. A release wire connected to a release lever in the driver's seat is extended and tied to the rear end of the stopper. The stopper which normally keeps the lid closed on the fuel inlet is released when the driver turns the release lever and gives a pull at the release wire.
The lid locking device of this principle which is now extensively used has a construction wherein a flange is provided at the front end of the case and check members are disposed on the rear side of the flange as separated by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the panel at the fuel inlet. The attachment of this lid locking device to the panel around the fuel inlet is accomplished by inserting the case in the direction of its rear end into a matched opening bored in the panel, pressing the check members against the case, and bringing the lower surface of the flange into intimate contact with the panel surface.
In such a lid locking device as described above, there is generally provided an elastic packing between the panel and the flange to ensure stable retention of the device on the panel. The packing is not so strong as to withstand prolonged use. At times the locking device entails a disadvantage that the check member will slip off its position on exposure to external impacts such as vibration, for example. The elastic packing offers no sealing effect for the opening edge in the panel. Thus, the opening has a possibility of being gradually corroded from the uncoated opening edge thereof. In the case of a lid locking device involving the mechanism using the release wire tied to the stopper, the stopper requires use of a metal rod and a metal connecting member. As a result, the number of the parts increases, the assemblage of the device becomes complicated, and the cost consequently rises.